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Roaming Profiles using DFS? - is it possible?

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Has anyone ever used DFS replication for roaming profiles? Is it possible to specify a namespace for a roaming profle path?

The dilema I have is that several users work between 2 sites at the moment. Sites are connected via VPN, but only a standard ADSL line is used due to the size of the Organisaton and costs etc.

I've already set profile size restrictions, but there can still be a lengthy delay pulling the profile and caching between sites. I've already managed to replicate the company filestore, so data access should be significantly improved.

The problem now is logon etc. I did think about redirection, but clients are still XP so less group policy options.

Using Server 2008 Std R2 at each site with XP client.

Really just looking for other engineers experiences / ideas for this kind of problem. What have other people created in this situation? I'm thinking more towards the re-direction of profile data and possible replicating that?

7) The profile that ends up on FileSrv1 and FileSrv2 is combination of the changes made from both machines, but may be internally inconsistent if configuration settings are stored across multiple files.

Therefore, we don’t recommend you use DFSR to replicate Roaming profile in the case.

Hope this can be helpful for you.

Best Regards,

David Shen

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

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Has anyone ever used DFS replication for roaming profiles? Is it possible to specify a namespace for a roaming profle path?

The dilema I have is that several users work between 2 sites at the moment. Sites are connected via VPN, but only a standard ADSL line is used due to the size of the Organisaton and costs etc.

I've already set profile size restrictions, but there can still be a lengthy delay pulling the profile and caching between sites. I've already managed to replicate the company filestore, so data access should be significantly improved.

The problem now is logon etc. I did think about redirection, but clients are still XP so less group policy options.

Using Server 2008 Std R2 at each site with XP client.

Really just looking for other engineers experiences / ideas for this kind of problem. What have other people created in this situation? I'm thinking more towards the re-direction of profile data and possible replicating that?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.

I did find this on DFS FAQ so will do some testing- but any advice would be appreciated.

Is DFS Replication suitable for replicating roaming profiles?

If the profile is accessed from only one location (such as the branch server), and the files are not locked for exclusive use by the user or an application, then DFS Replication can replicate the profiles back to a hub site without conflict.

However, if a single file is updated in two locations in a short timeframe, a conflict will occur and only the file that was most recently updated will be replicated. Therefore, use DFS Replication for roaming profiles only if the user allows enough time for replication between accessing the profile from multiple locations.

7) The profile that ends up on FileSrv1 and FileSrv2 is combination of the changes made from both machines, but may be internally inconsistent if configuration settings are stored across multiple files.

Therefore, we don’t recommend you use DFSR to replicate Roaming profile in the case.

Hope this can be helpful for you.

Best Regards,

David Shen

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

I am curios to know what your thoughts are on using DFS for Roaming Profiles without replication. Idea is that this would allow you to take advantage of the namespace and not having to ever change this and when you have to migrate to a new server you could
use replication long enough to get a copy of the data to the new server then retire the old server.

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